Milwaukee Brewers: 4 Possible Third Base trade targets
By Kenny Jilek
Colin Moran – Pittsburgh Pirates
The final potential Milwaukee Brewers’ trade target is one of the biggest Brewer killers in the league, Colin Moran. For his career, he’s hitting .324 against the Crew and has an OPS+ of 134. The best part about getting him on our side would be not having to play against him anymore.
He’s been the Pirates’ everyday third basemen since 2018 and has been about average at that spot until this season when he was red hot in the first couple of weeks, but even after coming back down to earth, he’s has been impressive.
Like Ruiz, he has seen a dip in batting average, but his big power surge to open the season bolstered his slugging and therefore his OPS and OPS+. He’s well above average in those categories, slugging .531 and posting an OPS+ of 129.
The difference between Moran and Ruiz is that Moran was a solid player even without the big power numbers. Moran has also historically been about an average defender, but he’s only played four games at third this season, instead, being slotted into the lineup as designated hitter or first baseman in most of his appearances.
Moran will enter his first year of arbitration next offseason, giving him three years of contracts that should be relatively cheap. Prying him away from the Pirates may be tough, though, because they’re a division foe. Trades within the division are a rare occurrence because no one likes getting beat by a player that was once on their team.
Still, this may be the Brewers’ best option to get a player who has proven MLB hitting ability, a cheap and controllable contract, and won’t command a ridiculous return in a trade.
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Do you think any of these options are viable for the Milwaukee Brewers and would at least be worth a call? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.